Car-roof construction.



No. 678,189. I Patented July 9, mm.

L. C. MARSHALL.

CAR ROOF CONSTRUCTION.

(Application filed Dec. 24, 1900.)

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UNITED v STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS O; MARSHALL, EAST WALPOLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

CAR-ROOFCO'NSTRUCTION.

srEoIFIoArIonroimm part of Letters mat a... 678,189, dated July 9,1901.Application a December 24,1900. Serial No. 40,993. '(No model.)

TootZZ whom it may ooncermg Be it known that I, LEWIS O. MARSHALL, asubject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at East Walpole, in thecounty of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new anduseful Improvements in Oar-Roof Constructions, of which the followingis' a specification. v

This invention relates to car-roof construction, and is particularlyapplicable to the roofs of freight-oars.

The invention is in the nature of an improvement on my priorLettersPatent of the United States, dated July 5, 1898, numbered 606,996, inwhich means are shown for protecting the flexible roofing materialapplied to the roof of a car between, the roof proper and the subrooffrom being torn at the points of its attachment to the roof by thetorsional movements of the latter, which are always present to a greateror less extent when the car is in motion. In my said prior LettersPatent the roofing material is attached to the car only at one point oneach side of the car, as may be readily seen by a reference thereto.

In my present invention my object is to provide means for applying thisroofing material to the subroof of a car without attaching it thereto atany point, to the end that it may be more quickly and cheaply appliedand whereby there may be absolute freedom of movement of the roof androofing material, one relative to the other, and all danger of thetearing of said roofing material by reason of torsional strains thereonis obviated.

In carrying my invention into practice I prefer to use the roofconstruction shown in my said prior, patent, and it is that constructionwhich is shown in the drawings forming part of this specification, inwhich Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a portion of a car-roofhaving the roofing material appliedthereto according to my invention, apart of the outer roof. being broken away. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectionon line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of a portion of oneend'of a' strip of the roofing material. Figs. 4 and 5 are two end viewsof a strip of said material extending from one side of a car over theridge of the roof to the other side as they would appear on the car.Fig. 4 is composed of two strips lapped at the ridge, and Fig. 5 is madein'one piece. I

In the drawings, a. indicates the side of the car; b, the subroof, onwhich the roofing material is laid from one side to the other of thecar, said strips of material being indicated by 0. Along the edge of theroofis laidlongitudinally the inner facia-board d, andat 'fsuitableintervals the subrafters care laid at right angles to the edge of thecar, on which the usual purlins are laid to support the roof proper, f,in the usual manner. At points opposite the ends of the subrafters 6blocks g are nailed to the inner facia-board,

to which the outer facia-boards h are nailed,

whereby an open space orchannel t', Fig. 2, is provided between theouter and inner facia-boards, through which any water from the surfaceof the roofing material may escape. The edge of the roof overlaps theupper edge of the outer facia-board, as shown. The subrafters e are.provided along their edges lengthwise with narrow grooves j, which trendupward toward the center of the subrafter. These grooves receive theedges of a strip of the roofing material 0, allas'shown.

and described in my said prior Letters Patent. The blocks 9 are of sucha width as to leave the ends of said grooves uncovered when said blocksare nailed onto the car in their proper position, heretoforedescribed.The strips of roofing material a, which may be any one of the flexiblewaterproof substances applicable to roof constructions, are of such awidth that the opposite edge thereof may be inserted in the grooves jand passed over the ridge of the car from one side thereof to the other,and it may consist of one piece, as shown in Fig. 5, or in two pieces,as in Fig. 4, and the ends thereof at each side of the car left longenough to be doubled back upon the strip, as shown, to form a trough is,Figs. 4 and 5, the extremities-being of such length that they will abutagainst the under side of the purlin which lies at the edge of the roof,(see Fig. 2,) which would bring the said end of the strip 0 somewhatabove the level of the plane of the top of the subroot' b in theconstruction shown. This, however, is not material.

When a sheet of roofing material 0 is ap plied to a car-roof with itsends bent in the manner described, it is, by its said turned-up endsbearing against the roof, soheld in position that while it may yield toa considerable extent in any direction under the torsional movements ofthe car it cannot be drawn out endwise nor if made in two pieces workits way upward or downward, because of the locking of the ends of thestrips 0 as described. To provide means of escape for cinders and thelike, which will find their way into the space between the upper roofand subroof b and from thence to the trough It, the latter is providedwith perforations Z, through which said cinders may escape, and thesekeep the trough is clear.

In applying the roofing material to the car the subroof b and subrafterse are put on in the manner described in my said prior patent, and theedges of the strip a are then slipped into the grooves in the subrafterse at the edge of the car and either carried over the ridge to theopposite side of the car or carried-a little way over the ridge andanother piece from the opposite side is entered in the grooves j and itsinner end lapped over the first piece at the ridge for a sufficientdistance to secure the exclusion of water. The ends of the strips at theside of the car are then bent to form the troughs k, the perforationsbeing cut through the bottom of the trough, and the inner facia-board dis then nailed on, after which the roof is completed by the applicationof the outer roof.

The herein-described method of applying the roofing material to acar-roof has many advantages over the methods heretofore employed, as inmy construction the material is not held unyieldingly at any one point,and hence no strain that it can be subjected to when in use can possiblycause its rupture, whereby a leak would be produced. Furthermore, thematerial can be applied practically without tools, only a knife beingrequired for cutting oi the paper and cutting out the perforations Z.

The particular means of holding the edges of the strips of roofingmaterial by insertingfor other means may be employed for holding theedges of the strips in their proper place Without attaching them to theroof con-' struction at any point.

-Having thus described my invention, what .I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is- I 1. The combination in acar-roof construction comprising a roof, asubroof, and a facia-boardsupported on the car and at a distance therefrom along the edge of theroof, of strips of roofing material applied to the snbroof, and havingtheir ends turned back upon the body of the strip to form a trough, thelatter being located between the faciaboard and the side of the car,substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a car-roof construction comprising a roof, asubroof, and a facia-board supported on the car and ata dis tancetherefrom along the edge of the roof, of

strips of roofing material applied to the sub roof and having their endsturned back upon the body of the strip to form a trough, the outer edgeof which will abut against the under side of the roof, and one or moreperforations in the bottom of said trough, substantially as described.

3. The combination in a car-roof construe tion comprising a snbroof andan outer roof above the latter whereby a passage is left be tween saidroofs from side to side of the car, of strips of roofing materiallocated in said passage for covering said subroof, and having their endsbent toform a trough located below the plane of the snbroof, togetherwith a fa'cia-board secured to the outside of the car at some distancetherefrom,- and between which and the side of the car said trough islocated, substantially as described.

LEWIS O. MARSHALL.

lrVitnesses:

GEORGE M. GnAvEs, FRANK W. FILLMORE.

